Quora: What was Paul McCartney’s most intricate bassline in ‘The Beatles’?

(Answered by Thomas Luton)

Paul McCartney was arguably the most musically gifted out of all 4 Beatles. As the groups bassist, he used this ability to create wonderfully intricate and melodic bass lines.

Perhaps his most intricate bass lines are found on the last Beatles album ‘Abbey Road’. You have to remember that by this point in 1969, the Beatles were at the absolute pinnacle of their musical ability after producing several incredible albums.

Abbey Road is a masterwork of production and musicality and Paul’s bass lines reflect his abilities as a bassist. I think this is reflected in the song ‘Something’, maybe George Harrison’s magnum opus.

An incredibly written love song , ‘Something’ is a beautiful ode to love and commitment. Although the song was written by Harrison, I would recommend listening to Paul McCartney’s incredibly melodic and interesting bass line.

Busy and richly melodic, this bass line emerges as one of the most prominent features of the track. Although accused of some, including Harrison himself, of being too busy, I think it clearly reflects Paul’s incredible creativity and ability as a bassist.

Quora: What do you think of McCartney’s bass playing in Harrison’s “Something”? It seems to get mixed reviews.

(via (Quora) Answered by Jake Gerber, Musical Session Player

Put more succinctly : his playing is friggin BRILLIANT !!! I wish I was getting paid for this answer. In any event … I’ll commence with this. Anyone that doesn’t believe Paul put everything he had into Georges songs is mistaken. Paul took great pride in respect to everything he played. He upped the ante on three of George’s songs I can think of, two of which are on Abbey Road, the third on Revolver…

Paul’s playing on “ Something “ could be studied in a music theory class in university level. The first time you hear the song played through a proper playback system ( vinyl ) where you can actually hear the bass, you might think Paul was overplaying, there’s a lot of movement going on, and the songs a ballad which in popular music are rather restrained in respect to the bass lines, if indeed it even actually has a dedicated bass line per se…

Read more: https://www.quora.com/What-do-you-think-of-McCartneys-bass-playing-in-Harrisons-Something-It-seems-to-get-mixed-reviews